Ask the Expert: Let's talk about bladder health

Bladder health should be important to everyone. With around 50 percent of the people within the United States suffering with some type of urinary issue symptoms, it’s something that needs to be talked about. It is more common than many people realize and getting help starts with becoming aware of the various bladder issues and what your options are to help you improve your quality of life.

What is considered a healthy bladder?

A healthy bladder is a well maintained bladder. Voiding should occur every 3-4 hours or 5-7 times per day and unless you’re over 65, you shouldn’t be frequently waking up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. You should not need to strain to urinate and you should be able to suppress the urge long enough to get to the restroom without any leakage.

Why is a healthy bladder important?

A healthy bladder is important because it affects so many aspects of life. As far as health benefits go, the bladder is part of the urinary system in your body, which is the key in filtering and expelling waste products from our blood. The urinary system works as one and needs all parts of it working properly to get the full benefits and capacity for filtration.

While the bladder is more of a storage area than anything else in the urinary system, it’s an aspect not to be overlooked. If we are looking at bladder health in terms of social importance, there can be a lot of social discomfort and embarrassment if you have issues with your bladder. Often times, everyday activities or events that would otherwise be fun, are spent using the restroom frequently or feeling uncomfortable due to the constant urge of having to use the restroom. An unhealthy bladder impacts a person’s social life as well as their overall well-being negatively if it is not taken care of and treated.

What are some common bladder issues?

The most common form of a bladder condition tends to be incontinence, which is the inability to control your bladder. Different types of incontinence and conditions are:

Overactive bladder: Having an overactive bladder is a condition that affects millions of Americans every day. Some of the common symptoms of OAB include using the restroom more than 8 times a day or a sudden urgent feeling of having to urinate without having any control over it. Waking up multiple times in the night to use the restroom is also a common symptom of an overactive bladder.

Urge Incontinence: Urge incontinence is having the sudden urge to urinate but having no control over the release. It is a quick onset of urgency with little to no time to release, giving you no time to make it to an appropriate area. This causes people to rush to the bathroom and struggle to manage clothing in time. You may leak urine in public or while you are sleeping. Not having a choice on where or when you have to go makes public situations troublesome.

Stress Incontinence: This type of incontinence occurs when there is physical stress on your bladder. Some examples include coughing, sneezing, laughing, getting up from a chair, exercise, jumping, or heavy lifting. You may experience only a few drops of leakage ranging all the way to a large, involuntary flow requiring a change of clothing.

Overflow Incontinence: This type of incontinence occurs because of a difficulty to fully empty your bladder, leading to overflow that leaks out unexpectedly. Also, urine left in the bladder has a greater risk for bacteria to form, leading to a greater risk of experiencing recurring urinary tract infections. This can be caused by some medications, nerve damage, various injuries, and blockage of the urethra.

Functional Incontinence: This type of incontinence occurs due to the inability or speed in which a person can get to the toilet when the urge occurs. Usually this type of incontinence occurs when there are other medical conditions present as well, ranging from depression to multiple sclerosis. Public restrooms can be an issue due to lack of accessibility which increases the chances for functional incontinence to occur.

There are a number of risk factors associated with incontinence some of which you can control, while others you cannot. The most common risk factors for urinary incontinence include:

Being female

Advanced aging

High-impact sports

Obesity

Any conditions associated with chronic cough

Prostate surgery

Multiple pregnancies or hysterectomy

Poor mobility

How can I mange my bladder health?

Each type of bladder condition has different options to treat/manage them and is different for each person. What might work for you, doesn’t work for another person suffering from the same type of bladder condition. It’s important to keep a trial and error mindset when managing your bladder health. Lifestyle changes are some of the most effective steps you can make to help your overall bladder health and manage your condition. Some various lifestyle changes are:

Limit caffeine and alcohol.

Avoid bladder irritating foods (some of these include spicy foods and citrus fruits, but can be specific to you).

Keep a daily bladder diary so you can better understand your symptoms.

Scheduling restroom breaks throughout your day.

Empty your bladder twice in one trip to the restroom.

Monitor fluid intake.

There are also ways that are a little more proactive, such as exercises that can help your bladder health. Some common ones include:

Retrain your bladder.

Kegel exercises done regularly.

Daily extended walking.

Lastly, there are always medical procedures or routines that can also offer some management for your bladder. Those include:

Medication

Pessary insert

Implant

Surgery

Topical estrogen cream

Urethral bulking

When should I see my doctor?

It is recommended to see your doctor if there is any pain in your pelvic floor/bladder area, there are signs or symptoms of infection, inability to sense bladder fullness, the feeling of urgency but the inability to urinate, or if you see an increase in urine leakage.

How can I get more information?

To get more information on general bladder health the Urology Care Foundation (urologyhealth.org) has various resources and information that can be very beneficial to you in assessing bladder health and options. Reaching out to your primary care physician is an important first step; begin discussing your bladder health as soon as it becomes a concern.